I'm generally used to Lotus 1-2-3 where for a calculation I can just enter
1+2 and have it display 3. In Excel I always have to enter =1+2. If you
don't enter the = it will just display 1+2 after you hit enter. Is there
something in the settings you can change so that it will automatically enter
the = sign?

The only other option is to enter "+1+2" which will return 3

This is an Excel requirement. A tradeoff from Lotus is if you WANT the cell
to display "1+2" in Lotus, you must enter the apostrophe " '1+2 ", in Excel,
you don't.

HTH